A bridal shop owner in Baildon has kept the ‘cheer’ alive in the local village after putting up quirky displays in her shop window.

Tracy Atkinson took over The Bridal Boutique in Baildon in August 2020, during the height of the pandemic, after giving up her wedding venue dressing business.

Since taking over, Tracy has put in the effort to make her shop window the pretties on the street, inviting people into the shop or simply giving them something to smile about.

Tracy said: “I was giving up my venue dressing business and I was really sad about it because I enjoyed the work, but then the bridal shop went on for sale.

“I saw it and I fell in love with it; I’d seen the store before, driven past it and I always thought I would love to own a bridal shop.

“Obviously shops were closed we couldn’t really do anything, so I decided to put on these window displays of bridal dresses but in fun themes.

“We’ve had a motorbike on display for the Harley-Davidson weekend, and recently we had a farm, boho-inspired shop front with hay and a wooden pallet with a wedding picnic.

“It was a way to cheer ourselves up and people in the village have been loving it.

“Just yesterday a man came in and told us that we had cheered up the village and our corner of the high street was a real joy.

“We want to do something to give back to our local community, who have welcomed us and supported us.”

“People stop to take pictures and it brings other customers in.

“We don’t take ourselves too seriously here, we offer our service and people tell us that they really enjoyed their appointments.

“It’s not always about the sale because with wedding dresses you just know when it’s the one and sometimes, we don’t have it, but we make the experience as fun and light-hearted as we can.”

Though the pandemic is mostly over, and shops are fully opened the window displays will continue with new ideas and themes every so often.

Tracy’s daughter owns another franchise in Saltaire and mother and daughter put a lot of effort into their window displays.

“It’s a family-run business and that makes it more special, we share ideas and we both have lovely decorated storefronts.